Car that crashed into Loveland store driven by 17-year-old

The black Subaru that crashed into the Foundation Pawn store Saturday morning was driven by an unlicensed 17-year-old driver who had never driven with a manual transmission.

"The cause was driver error, meaning we had a driver who didn't know how to drive and who had never driven before," said Sgt. Bob Shaffer of the Loveland Police Department. "He popped the clutch and went off to the races."

The Loveland Police Department received a call at 11:52 a.m. about a single-vehicle accident at the pawnshop, 1121 E. Eisenhower Blvd.

"The building was closed for the day," Officer Jeff Mayers said. "Nobody was inside the building."

The male driver had attempted to move the vehicle out of a parking space but instead launched it forward into the pawnshop through two walls, the exterior wall and a second wall 15 feet inside.

A tow truck operator removes a vehicle from Foundation Pawn, 1121 E. Eisenhower Blvd., after the vehicle's driver crashed into the building Saturday. (Liyana Haniff)

A passenger in the vehicle, Sherry Powell, 57, manager of a flower cart nearby, allegedly convinced the male driver, an employee of hers, to move the car forward so she could vacuum out the dirt from the plants she sells, said Mayers.

Powell, who had borrowed the car from a friend of hers, has a suspended license. She told police that she had driven the car to the parking lot, Shaffer said.

Powell is being charged with driving while license suspended, allowing an unlicensed driver to drive a vehicle and child abuse.

The 17-year-old is charged with reckless driving.

The two had to be extricated from the vehicle and were able to walk out of the building. They were transported to McKee Medical Center for evaluation.

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